Does 440 Stainless Steel suck for use in a knife?

Question

I've heard good things and bad things about 440 Steel. I know there are the different grades, but do any of them really "suck". They just have slightly different properties. 440A isn't as tough, but has even better corrosion resistance. 440B is rare, and 440C is tough, but not as sharp as carbon steel.

so is there really a "bad" steel to use in a knife? I have never, ever had a knife break on me, and I use them ALOT. I'm an outdoorsman.

Answer 1

no, thats not bad.

Answer 2

most of your custom knife makers (Loveless and others) used 440C up until maybe 10 years ago (maybe a little further back) if they weren't using O1 or other high carbon

several years back, a lot of big name knives (Buck I think and several others) began using 440A for their production knives

it cost less and they have learned how to heat treat it where it makes a good blade

there are better steels but costs go up

a lot of makers are using 420 now - apparently the 420HC makes a decent blade but if it is cheap and just says 420 it is probably pretty -- and pretty worthless

Quality is probably more dependent on heat treatment than the exact steel

good starting place

http://www.agrussell.com/

Answer 3

440 is good for short knives but thats about it. Go for 440C if you can get it, it's a better grade of steel. It's worthless for swords, the longer an item is the more brittle it becomes when impacting things. Has anyone ever seen that video the one of the home shopping networks where he was selling a sword, stainless, hit somthing, it snapped and stabbed him?

400 and 420 avoid at all costs, its a paperweight. There are other grades like VG-1, VG-10, AUS8 to name three and all are of better quality than 440C but you don't seem them as much. My Cold Steel I keep on me is VG-1 but it's a 4" folder and it costs $90. I have put that through so much...

If your going to be using knives for a heavy workload get carbon steel or a less used grade like VG-1 or AUS 8. 440A can't take punishment and the edge won't last. I can split logs with my KA-BAR and a hammer and I have yet felt the need to sharpen it. Stainless knives can't do that.

Answer 4

I have a Gerber knife with a 440C blade. Best knife I ever had and as sharp as any I have used. The advantage to 440C stainless is it should not rust. On good knives, there should be a pin mark where they checked hardness. I think it holds an edge better than carbon knives. By the way, my gerber is 34 yrs old and still the best I have!!!

I think the mfg is more important than the material - good mfg, good knife